Electronic application programs are used within a home or business for many reasons to assist people in their lives by establishing particular services. As such, the applications programs and the services they provide may be referred to collectively as application programs/services. For example, a personal computer may contain many application programs establishing services that allow an individual to interface with the computer to perform various tasks such as word processing, electronic mail, and scheduling. As more devices within a home or business are becoming electronic, the variety of application programs/services that work in conjunction with these devices is greatly expanding. Application programs/services now extend beyond those typically found on a personal computer that are focused on interaction with the user. For example, application programs/services now exist to provide customized control of security systems, heating and cooling systems, household appliances, and various other systems and devices.
Typically for personal computers, consumers are responsible for the management of the application programs/services such as installing, configuring, and executing the desired application programs/services. However, as the number and complexity of application programs/services affecting one's life increases in conjunction with the number of systems and devices that utilize application programs/services, consumers are less capable of the management responsibilities. Tasks such as acquiring, installing, configuring, monitoring, and/or updating application programs/services are undesirable or even impossible for the consumer since they may be complicated and time consuming. Therefore, consumers generally prefer to avoid these tasks and prefer that someone else be responsible for the management of application programs/services.
To manage application programs/services without the consumer being responsible typically requires that a technician perform the necessary tasks. The application programs/services for an individual may often be local such that the application program/service itself resides in electronic or magnetic memory and is executed at the location where the effects of the application program/service are to occur. For example, the application programs/services controlling or otherwise interacting with a heating and cooling system or a security system are typically located and executed at the residence where the heating and cooling system or security system is located. This avoids potential communication problems between the application program/service and the systems that might jeopardize their operation. However, a technician must visit the residence where the application program/service is to reside to manage the application program/service, including the initial installation of the program/service and subsequent updates of the program/service. This is an inconvenience to both the technician and the consumer, and may result in unsatisfactory management of the application programs/services.
Additionally, specialized and dedicated hardware is often required at the local site to run each of the application programs/services. Because the amount of resources provided by the hardware affects its cost, it may be desirable to keep the hardware costs low by utilizing hardware with limited resources to execute one or more of the application programs/services. Due to limited resources, the hardware may not be capable of simultaneously accommodating every possible application program/service and version that may be needed by a consumer. Thus, application programs/services may need to be repetitiously installed and removed or replaced with a newer version so that the hardware has access to an application program/service needed at any given time. This further aggravates the installation and management issues for application programs/services at the local site.